Fashion Fraud, page 6
‘That’s our cue,’ said EJ. ‘In position, EK12.’
EJ and EK both took a deep breath. The spotlight shone on them and followed them as they began to walk down the catwalk. They strutted for a few paces and then stopped, turning to the side, glaring out above the heads of the audience. They held their positions. There was enormous applause from the audience and camera flashes went off like explosions all around them.
Keep going, thought EJ. Don’t forget to breathe, remember not to smile, head up and strut. Think like a supermodel.
They walked to the end of the first part of the catwalk and then stopped again, this time turning to the other side. EJ struck her leg out and saw as she did that the dress looked like water rippling. It was beautiful and the crowd again erupted into applause. EJ was actually starting to enjoy herself and she smiled. Other models may not smile, she thought but this one does! And so EJ smiled broadly as she walked down the catwalk. EK saw her and she began to smile too. The audience loved it and the applause grew stronger. No one seemed to notice two other models, one a salmon and one a chicken, standing awkwardly to one side of the catwalk. As EJ and EK completed their circuit of the catwalk, people rose to their feet, still clapping and now cheering. Alicia Noir stood up and the crowd roared their approval. The show was at an end and Alicia moved towards EJ and EK to take her bow. EJ could see her eyes blink in confusion as she looked at them, realising that they were not her models. EJ nudged EK and they stepped off the catwalk and into the elevator. Alicia moved towards them, but not fast enough.
‘Show’s over, Alicia,’ said EJ.
‘No,’ said Alicia, who was still standing on the catwalk. ‘I need my dresses. I need to take them to …’
‘Next time, make your own art,’ said EJ as she pushed the elevator button and the doors began to close.
Alicia looked at EJ, realising what had happened, but it was too late.
‘That’s what I call a show-stealer,’ said EK. As the elevator descended, the girls took off their dresses and carefully placed them in the bag before changing back into their spy gear. When the elevator opened on the ground floor they stepped out into the cool night air and saw a long white car and a woman standing in front of it, smiling at them. It was LP30.
‘Well done, EJ12 and EK12. We are to deliver the paintings to the museum and return home. We have your mini-chopper, EK12.’
‘What about Alicia Noir and Madame Ombre?’ asked EJ.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of them.’
‘You’ll need this too,’ said EJ, passing LP30 a can of Formula B. ‘It will help restore the paintings.’
‘Good work, EJ,’ said LP30. ‘And we will need to restore you two as well,’ she said, looking at the girls’ hair and make-up. ‘We have a kit in the car.’
As LP30 drove, the girls, brushed out their hair and wiped off all the make-up. EJ thought that it had been fun being someone else but it was better being herself.
‘That look was so last season,’ giggled EK.
EJ laughed but it reminded her of something. ‘LP30,’ she said, ‘we have one more thing we need to do. There’s something else we need to collect, actually three things. Can we meet you at the plane—and may I borrow a skeleton key?’
‘Of course,’ said LP30, passing over a charm. ‘I’ll let A1 know that the two of you will be there in thirty minutes.’
‘Make that the five of us,’ said EJ.
EJ and EK rode through the streets of Paris on the bike. It was nearly midnight and the streets were all but empty as they sped towards Alicia Noir’s studio. They stopped around the corner from the front of the shop.
‘Wait here, EK,’ said EJ. ‘I’ll be right back.’
EJ let herself in with the skeleton key and went straight up to the studio. She was only halfway up the stairs when she heard yelping from behind the studio door. EJ opened it to see the three puppies in a box on top of a pile of fabric, plastic, lace, leather and ribbons. The box was labelled: ‘Last Season—Discard’. Alicia Noir had left the poodle puppies to be thrown out with the rubbish, she was going to discard them as easily as old off-cuts.
‘I don’t think so,’ said EJ, scooping the puppies up. Beret licked her cheek appreciatively, followed by Éclair and Eiffel.
EJ looked at all the discarded material. A wide piece of ribbon in a deep, rich red, caught her eye, as did a few other pieces. She picked up two shopping bags also in the pile and put the pieces in.
We can’t let it all go to waste, thought EJ as she picked up the bags and the puppies and headed back down the stairs and out into the street.
‘They’re so cute!’ cried Elle, taking Beret and cuddling her.
‘Alicia left them to be thrown away,’ said EJ.
‘No way!’
‘SHINE will be able to train them. Poodles are very intelligent,’ said EJ. ‘I thought maybe I might be able to have one. Pip needs a friend while we’re all at school and work.’
‘What will you say to your mum?’
‘I’m still working on that,’ said EJ, laughing. ‘Come on. Let’s go and meet LP30.’
With the three puppies sitting snugly in the bicycle basket, EJ and EK rode along the River Seine until they reached the castle where EJ had started her mission. They rode around it and far into the park behind. Parked at the end of a straight path down the middle was 4S.
LP30 greeted them and looked at the three puppies. ‘Why am I not surprised?’ she asked, laughing. ‘Come on-board. We need to get you back; it’s way past your bedtimes!’
Really, thought EJ. We’ve just saved some of the world’s most valuable paintings and LP30 is talking about our bedtimes?
EJ and EK strapped themselves, and the puppies, in. As EJ clicked in her seatbelt, she noticed the little heart charm on her bracelet. She took it and twisted it and, as she did, an inscription appeared.
Don’t be a fake: be yourself. EJ guessed that was what the words meant. She thought back over the mission. She had found the real paintings and she realised she had found something else: a new confidence in her own way of doing things. She didn’t always get things right the first time but she got there in the end. As she ran the thick red ribbon through her fingers, she realised she could be true to herself at the dance party as well. And now she knew exactly what she wanted to wear.
Piinngg!
It was a message from A1.
Now EJ had two reasons to hurry home.
Éclair was playing with Pip on the bedroom floor while Emma got dressed. When the doorbell rang she knew it would be Elle and her mum coming to take her to Eve’s party. Emma tied the thick red ribbon around her waist and double-checked the knot at the back before she raced down the hallway and opened the door.
‘Elle, you look great!’
‘So do you, Em,’ cried Elle, hugging her friend. ‘And you look so you!’
When the girls arrived at the party, they saw that Eve’s living room had been cleared for a dance floor and decorated with streamers and balloons. Her older sister was being the DJ. Everyone at the party looked great and lots of people said nice things about Emma’s dress. Even Nema and Laila grudgingly agreed.
‘Not bad,’ said Laila. ‘For something that isn’t new.’
‘I hope that ribbon is on tight,’ said Nema, smirking.
‘I think it looks really good,’ said Eve, who came up behind Laila.
‘Thanks, Eve,’ said Emma, smiling gratefully. ‘Elles,’ she said, ‘is there something fishy here?’
‘I’m not sure, Em,’ said Elle. ‘I’m too chicken to check.’
Nema and Laila looked at each other then back to Emma and Elle.
‘What did you say?’ asked Laila.
‘Nothing,’ said Emma. ‘Hey, Elle, there’s Isi and Han!’
Isi bounded up to Emma and Elle and hugged them both. ‘Welcome back,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve just been talking to Eve,’ she said loudly. ‘Do you realise that her name is exactly the same backwards and forwards? How cool is that?’
‘Very,’ said Emma.
Eve grinned.
‘And there’s something else cool,’ said Hannah, beaming. ‘I won that writing competition I entered. I pick up my prize at some light shop next week.’
Emma, Isi and Elle all shrieked in delight and hugged Hannah. Then a song they all loved started to play. Isi shrieked again.
‘I’ve made up a really cool routine to this! Come on, I’ll show you! Come on, Eve, you’ll love it too!’
The girls all rushed to the centre of the room. They lined up behind Isi and followed her moves. Soon other people joined in and in no time they had a long line stretching through the living room into the kitchen, all doing the same routine but with everyone adding a little something of their own. Everyone was having a ball and even Nema and Laila joined in.
Emma looked at her friends and smiled. Now all the besties were going to be in SHINE and they had each done it their way.
Be true to yourself, remembered Emma. And she had been, they all had—with a little help from EJ12!
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Published by Lemonfizz Media and Scholastic Australia in 2012.
Text, design and illustrations copyright © Lemonfizz Media 2012.
Cover design and Illustrations by Dyani Stagg of Merchantwise.
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ISBN: 978-1-921931-25-3
Susannah McFarlane, Fashion Fraud
